


Change Your Mind

by Cigarettes_and_Valentines



Category: Best Friends Forever (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, louis is p jealous??, post chapter 23d
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-05-07 09:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5452271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cigarettes_and_Valentines/pseuds/Cigarettes_and_Valentines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Vincent's skiing injury, Louis isn't quite ready to let him go. He wants to be the one there to help him though it all, but there is a little problem standing in his way. Teddy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Louis paced up and down the hospital hallway, his eyes flashing to the door every few seconds. Someone was supposed to come out eventually and tell him how Vincent was doing, since he needed _fucking_ surgery to fix his damn leg after that skiing fiasco. The idiot just _had_ to rush down a double black diamond trail with pretty much no experience.

He was going to _kill_ Teddy.

In his eyes, there was no way that Teddy wasn’t to blame for this. He’d supposedly been Vincent’s best friend for years, but had let him get into a situation like this, with Vincent risking his life just because of Teddy’s stupid decisions. Some best friend he was. Selfish, that’s what Teddy was. He knew how protective Vincent had always been around him and yet he went ahead and flung himself right into danger without even a thought as to how Vincent would react, and more importantly, what he would _do_.

And he still didn’t understand why Vincent was _in love_ with this kid. Vincent Fawkes, quarterback, musician and all around stud could have any guy he wanted, but instead he was wasting his time hung up over a stupid crush on a tiny little straight boy who he didn’t have a chance with. He really didn’t understand the appeal of Teddy. Sure he was smart, but it’s not like that meant anything out in the real world. And he was rich, but so was Louis. He didn’t have the slim but still muscled figure that Louis worked so hard to keep, or the sexual prowess (the kid was a virgin for God’s sake!), the only thing that he had going for him was the fact that he’d been close to Vincent for so long, and even now since Vincent and Louis had started hooking up, the dream team had started drifting apart. So much for “best friends forever”. It was just his honest opinion that Teddy wouldn’t be as good as a boyfriend as him. And besides, Louis already knew plenty of ways to keep Vincent happy.

The rest of the gang eventually showed up, having taken a cab straight from the ski slope to the hospital. Louis filled them all in on the situation. Well, not all of them. He quickly realized that there were two people missing. John, which he had expected. The guy had not taken the news that his stepbrother was sleeping with his quarterback very well. But he was very surprised to see that Teddy of all people was missing too. He would have expected him to at least have the decency to show his face. What kind of friend _didn’t_ show up to the hospital after pretty much causing someone a severe injury?

“So he’s not here?” Louis asked, his voice cold and sharp as an icicle. “I would have thought he’d at least come.”

“Give him a break, Louis.” André replied tiredly.

“No.” Louis was pissed. “Why should I?” Because of Teddy, Vincent was badly injured. He going have to explain this shit to his Mom and just _pray_ that it didn’t ruin Vincent’s sports scholarship for next year. He was tired from the long ambulance ride and the stress of the whole situation, but he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to get any rest until he knew that Vincent would be okay. He needed a coffee. He needed some sleep. He needed a cigarette. He needed to vent about Teddy before he exploded.

“In his defense, he did just find out about Vincent today.” André said.

“What?” Louis’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, he found out that you two were fucking.” Kamri cut to the chase. “I can’t believe he didn’t figure it out on his own.”

“Well he is pretty oblivious.” Charli added. Louis simply nodded in agreement, his mind racing. So now that Teddy knew what was going on, he didn’t want to come and visit Vincent. He doubted it was because of homophobia in any way, the kid didn’t seem like he had the capacity to hate. No, Louis had another idea. Teddy _had_ to be jealous. Teddy was jealous that there was someone else who could run around after Vincent and look after him, _and_ do the job properly. He didn’t know why, but the concept was oddly pleasing to him. Well, he did always like a little competition.

“I’m gonna go have a smoke.” Louis said. “If the doctors have any more news, text me.” He headed out, and when the cold mountain air filled his lungs, he smiled.

~ ~ ~

The doctors had told them that Vincent had a compound fracture, which meant that both bones in his left shin had broken cleanly into two. They’d had to put a rod into his leg so that the bone healed properly. The doctor had told them that they couldn’t visit him for another hour or two, as the anesthetic still had to wear off. Louis’s friends took this as an opportunity to get him to eat something.

They sat in the dull hospital cafeteria. Louis picked at his dismal-looking salad, pulling apart the soggy leaves of lettuce and prodding the little cherry tomatoes.

“I texted John, by the way.” Kamri said. “To give him an update.”

“Mmhmm.” Louis continued playing with his salad.

“He said that there’s a chance Vincent can lose his scholarship, he won’t be able to play in the next season with an injury like that so there’s a chance the school can take back their offer.”

“Seriously?” Louis’s grip on his fork tightened. He was most definitely going to kill Teddy when he next saw him.

“Yeah, poor guy.” André commented. “And he really needed that money too.” He did. A scholarship through football was the only way that Vincent had any hope of being able to pay for college, and now because of one big stupid decision, he could lose all that. The fucking idiot.

“And Teddy called Vincent’s Mom for us and she’s really pissed.” Kamri added. “We told her that we’d cover all his hospital bills and then she calmed down a little.” Louis nodded, looking down at his watch. It had been an hour and a half since they had last spoken to the doctor. Maybe Vincent had woken up.

~ ~ ~

Vincent had, in fact, woken up and when Louis entered his room, he sat up and smiled weakly. “Louis!”

“You’re a complete idiot, do you know that?” Louis said as he pulled up a chair. “This can seriously fuck up your scholarship for next year Fawkes, what the hell were you thinking?”

“Teddy – “ Vincent began but Louis cut him off.

“Teddy isn’t even here.” He said. “He’s back at the lodge, and he’s _perfectly fine_. He didn’t need you to rush after him like that, and now it’s his fault that all this happened.”

“It’s not Teddy’s fault.” Vincent protested. “It was my stupid idea to follow him.”

“Look, all I can see is that if he hadn’t gone down that hill, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. You wouldn’t be injured or in danger of losing your scholarship or anything like that. If it wasn’t for Teddy then none of this would have happened. And I want to know why the fuck you’re so calm about this.”

“You don’t think that I don’t know that this shit can cost me my scholarship for next year? That because of this I might not actually go to school? But Louis, it’s not Teddy’s fault. To be fair he was totally capable of going down that hill and I was the one who was stupid enough to run after him.” Vincent sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s all _my_ fault okay?” Louis shook his head but his expression softened. There was no use arguing with him about this.

“So how are you holding up?” He asked, scooting closer.

“Okay, I guess. The painkillers are making me feel all weird and tired but it could be worse.” Vincent sat up, his hair fell in front of half of his face, but Louis could still see how pale and tired he looked. He frowned and leaned over to brush hair out of Vincent’s eyes.

“You should probably rest.” He said. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks.” Vincent replied. Louis bit his lip. Now didn’t really seem like a good time to tell Vincent that Teddy had found out about them, but there was no point hiding it. It would be obvious the second the two of them were in the same room together, that is, if Teddy ever let that happen. But on the other hand he really doubted unloading the news on him now would result in the best reaction. Contrary to popular belief, Louis didn’t like keeping secrets or hiding the truth. He much rather preferred to tell everyone directly what he thought and what was going on. But he had been keeping Vincent’s secrets for a while now, so maybe a hiding the truth for a little longer wouldn’t hurt too much.

“What’s wrong?” Vincent asked, noting Louis’s troubled expression.

“Oh it’s just that when we called your Mom to tell her what happened she sounded really pissed off.” Louis covered quickly.

“Shit!” Vincent smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. “I forgot about Mom! She’s going to be so pissed at all the hospital bills and everything.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Louis replied. “We’ll cover it.”

“Louis that’s like thousands of dollars.” Vincent said sternly. “You shouldn’t have to pay all that. I’ll figure something out on my own instead.”

“Don’t be stupid Vinny.”

“It’ll be fine. My Mom’s work gives her some health insurance stuff, that’ll cover at least something, apart from that I guess I’ll just need to pick up an extra job or two.”

“If you pick up another job I’m pretty sure you’re gonna die of exhaustion Fawkes. And besides, this is Canada. You don’t pay the full cost for health stuff here anyways. It’s no big deal.” Louis ruffled Vincent’s hair. “You just need to focus on getting better.”

“She’s going to be so pissed when I get back though.” Vincent sighed, he was not looking forward to spending time with his mother who would be no doubt infuriated by the fact that she had to take time off of work to look after her son who also couldn’t work and was in danger of losing his scholarship.

“You can stay with me instead.” Louis said playfully, walking his fingers up Vincent’s firm and muscled chest. He smiled coyly. “Maybe I’ll take care of you instead.”

“Oh yeah?” Vincent smiled.

“I’ll make sure that you’re _properly_ taken care of.”

“What, you’re gonna be my nurse or something?”

“Well, if that’s what you want Vincent,” Louis smirked again. “Why not? And if you’re lucky, maybe I’ll dress up.” Vincent laughed. Louis felt his chest shake under his fingers and watched as his eyes lit up like lanterns in the night. He didn’t know at what point it had happened, but this had become more that being just about than sex, more than the pleasure of knowing that he was banging the star quarterback. It had become something else and he wasn’t really sure what it was, but he had to admit that he wasn’t entirely opposed to the feeling he got when Vincent laughed like that.

“You know, I think you’d be able to pull that off.” Vincent said, yawning.

“You really should get some sleep.”

“Yeah, I know.” Vincent replied. Louis got up to leave him alone, but then had a thought. He leaned down and pressed a soft and gentle kiss to Vince’s lips.

“Get some good rest, okay?” He said after breaking the kiss, at which point he felt Vincent’s warm arms wrap around him and pull him into another deeper and slower kiss.

And pressed against the glass window of the hospital room door, unbeknown to either of them, was none other than Teddy, face almost touching the glass, his eyes wide open.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg Teddy ur so damn oblivious

Teddy had come to the hospital later, once he’d worked up the courage to. He’d brought Vincent a change of clean clothes, and on the drive to the hospital he did his best to ignore the thoughts about Louis and Vincent in his head. Were they really _doing it?_ Vincent and Louis had never really seemed to like each other very much, so how did they end up sleeping with each other? And more importantly why didn’t Vincent _say_ anything? Hell, Vincent used to tell him everything, but he didn’t say anything about this, or the fact that he was apparently into guys. He just wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be feeling at this point, about Vincent, about his injury or about Louis. He just didn’t know.

Once he got to the hospital and was directed to Vincent’s room, Teddy found that everyone else was already waiting there, well apart from John who had come with him. Carefully, he set the bag of clothes on the floor as all eyes turned towards him.

“Hey guys.” He said, an air of nervousness in his voice. “How’s Vincent doing?”

“Okay.” Kamri replied, filing her nails. “He’s woken up and everything, the doctor says he’ll probably be able to leave later today.”

“That’s good.” Teddy nodded.

“You know, none of us blame you.” André said. “I mean it’s not like you knew that he’d go after you like that. Apart from Louis, nobody really thinks you’re at fault.”

“Louis thinks it’s my fault.”

“Don’t worry about it too much. He’s probably just angry. He’ll come around soon enough.” Teddy frowned. So now Vincent was hiding things from him, and Louis was angry with him. And he was supposed to believe that none of this was his fault. Going on this ski trip had been a mistake. He thought that it would be fun, a great chance to hang out and make memories, but instead it had just turned to anger and confusion. He walked over to Vincent’s door.

“You said that he’s awake right?”

“Yeah, but Louis is in there right now. You might wanna wait.” Kamri replied. Louis was in there. Louis was in there with Vincent. Louis and Vincent. It was still such a hard thing for him to think about. He’d never got the impression that the two of them even liked each other very much, and yet they’d been going at it without him knowing for quite a while. It wasn’t right of him to judge Vincent’s sex life, but _Louis?_ Out of all the people in the world, he had chosen Louis Lindebeck, the guy who he had so often complained about to sleep with. Couldn’t he have chosen, well anyone else? He didn’t even know why this bothered him so much, but it did. There was just _something_ about Louis being with Vincent that really got to him.

From where he was standing, he could just about see into Vincent’s room. Louis sat beside him talking to him about something. Vincent looked distressed. He moved closer and then closer, completely forgetting about the people behind him as he got so close to the small window in the door that his nose pressed against it. He watched the two of them. Louis said something which seemed to make Vincent relax, and then reached over and ruffled his hair. Vincent smiled. Louis danced his fingers up and down Vincent’s chest with a seductive smirk. And then he said something which made Vincent laugh, and then they both laughed. Teddy watched Louis bend down and kiss Vincent, and then when he pulled away, Vincent wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into a deeper kiss.

Teddy took a step back. _Why the hell_ did this bother him so much? By all accounts he should be _happy_ for Vincent, figuring out that he liked guys and all, but there was just something about him being with Louis. It _must_ be Louis. That’s what it was. Although they had never been close until recently, Teddy had heard plenty about how quickly Louis went through guys. He’d never given it much thought before, but that totally made sense. Of course he’d feel weird seeing his friend with someone like Louis. That must be the reason. It wasn’t like he was _jealous_ of Louis or anything. Why would he be? He didn’t even like guys in the first place! The only reason he was freaking out _had_ to be because he was worried about Louis breaking Vincent’s heart, that’s all. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, making a mental note to tell Vincent to be careful when he got the chance.

He was almost hit in the face when the door burst open as Louis left the hospital room. His smile faded away in an instant upon seeing Teddy.

“Oh, you finally decided to show up.” Louis said.

“I brought Vincent some spare clothes.” Teddy said, looking down at the floor. Louis turned away, walking towards the chairs lining the hallway, giving Teddy time to muster up some courage and ask a question that had been on his mind ever since he’d found out the truth. “Uh Louis, how long have you and Vincent been, you know…”

“Doing it?” Louis replied. “Two or three months. Why?”

“Oh nothing, just…”

“Wondering why he didn’t tell you?” Teddy nodded. Louis shrugged. “I guess he just wasn’t ready to tell anyone yet.” Louis was angry but not so much that he couldn’t see sense. Right now nothing good would come from Teddy finding out about Vincent’s feelings for him. It was probably better for him if they were a little distanced for a while. Louis wasn’t trying to ruin their friendship, hell no. He just wanted to let Vincent see that Teddy simply wasn’t the right guy for him. That was all.

“Oh.” Teddy said. “I see.” After that conversation the hallway had filled with an awkward silence, nobody really sure what to say next. “Is he still awake?”

“Yeah, but don’t keep him up for long.” Louis replied, leaning against a dull white wall.

Teddy pushed open the door to the hospital room and saw Vincent lying on a bed, his leg in a cast but otherwise in fairly good spirits. Probably because Louis had just visited.

“Teddy!” Vincent said excitedly as he saw him. “You came!”

“Yeah.” He replied. “I made sure to bring you a fresh set of clothes and stuff too. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault.” Vincent smiled. “Come on, take a seat.” He sat up and patted the chair next to him, where Louis had been sitting a few moments ago. Teddy silently sat down, twiddling his fingers nervously.

“Are you okay?” Vincent asked.

“I should be asking you that.” Teddy replied. “How are you feeling?”

“Alright. I’m on too many meds to really feel my leg hurting right now so it could be worse.”

“John said that you could lose your scholarship.” Teddy looked down at his lap.

“The school’s not that competitive about sports. There’s a fair chance that they’ll keep me.”

“But what are you going to do if they don’t?” Vincent shrugged.

“Take a year or two off and work, I guess.” He replied. “But really man, what’s up? You look like there’s something bothering you.” Teddy hesitated. What was he supposed to do? Just look him in the eye and tell him that he was bothered by who Vincent chose to sleep with? That sounded too judgemental. He had to find a better way to word it. He needed to tell Vincent to be careful about Louis without offending him. And while he was at it maybe he could find out why Vincent had decided to keep it from him for so long. Even if Vincent wasn’t ready to tell anyone about him liking guys, he would have thought that he would have at least said something to Teddy. They used to talk about everything, but not this.

“I know about you and Louis.” He said quietly.

“What?” Vincent’s eyes widened.

“I know that you and Louis are – uh – together.” Teddy said.

“Wait, who else knows?”

“Everyone here.” Teddy stared harder at his lap.. “John, André, Charli, Kamri was the one who told me.” Vincent sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

“So everyone knows now?”

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure they’re all okay about it.” Teddy rushed to say. “I mean John was kinda angry but I’m pretty sure that’s just because it was Louis, not because you’re, you know, into guys.” Vincent bit his lip and stayed silent. For a while nobody said anything, both of them just uncomfortably avoiding each other’s eyes.

“Are you -- ” Vincent began hesitantly. “Are you okay with it?”

“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” Teddy gave Vincent what he hoped looked like a reassuring smile. “Honestly Vincent, I was just wondering why you didn’t tell me sooner.” Vincent let out a sigh of relief and nodded.

“I don’t know. I was just scared, I guess.” Vincent said. “I was worried that if you found out that I was into guys that you wouldn’t wanna hang out with me anymore.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Teddy said. “It really doesn’t matter to me if you’re into guys or not. Whatever makes you happy.” Vincent smiled at that, slightly more reassured.

“Thanks buddy.”

“And I just didn’t expect you to pick Louis of all people.” Teddy said.

“What’s wrong with Louis?”

“Well it’s not that there’s anything _wrong_ with him, it’s just that I never really thought the two of you got along. I thought you couldn’t stand him.”

“Yeah.” Vincent said vaguely. “I just think I’ve got to know him better now.” He couldn’t really tell Teddy why they’d started doing it without talking about his feelings for him. And besides he _had_ found himself getting to know and like Louis more ever since they’d started. Hell, he remembered asking Louis out on a date when he was delusional from the pain. He knew that Louis would probably say no, though. He’d made it pretty clear that whatever they had was supposed to be _just sex_ , none of that romance stuff Louis thought was annoying.

“I see. So does this mean that you and Louis are a couple?”

“I don’t know. I mean, when we started out it was supposed to be just sex, but I’m not really sure what we are right now.”

“Do you _want_ to date him?” Teddy asked. Vincent had never really considered the option. But before he could answer the door was opened by a doctor holding a clipboard.

“Hello, Vincent.” She said. “I’m just going to give you a quick check to make sure that nothing’s wrong, and then after that you’ll be able to go home. How are you feeling?” She checked Vincent’s pulse.

“Uh, okay I guess.”  Vincent replied. She continued the check-up.

“You should keep that cast on for about six to eight weeks, after that you’re going to have to rehabilitate your leg for a few months with physio before it gets back to normal again.” She explained. “But I wouldn’t worry about that. You’re young and healthy, you shouldn’t have any complications that’ll slow the healing process. You’ll be up and ready soon enough. Any questions?”

“Yeah, how long will it be before I can play football again.”

“Hmm, it’s difficult to say right now, but I’m afraid that it’s likely that it’ll be at least a year before you’d be able to play seriously, if you’re lucky.” Vincent groaned. He really was going to miss the next season. That made it a hell of a lot easier for his college to kick him out.

~ ~ ~

They left a few days after Vincent was released from the hospital. Nobody had wanted to stay very long anymore after what had happened. Louis had stepped up to take care of Vincent in those few days. It was unnerving to see him help Vincent shower, dress and use the washroom without complaint. It ways unlike Louis not to complain about doing work, but he did everything all too willingly. The person who was most surprised about this was Vincent himself. He’d thought that Louis had been joking when he had talked about taking care of him, but he’d turned out to do a pretty good job.

The flight back hadn’t been fun for Vincent. With a metal rod in his leg, the air pressure once they were flying made it swell and ache. Even then Louis took care of him, giving him his painkillers and helping him get to sleep for the rest of the journey. When Vincent was sound asleep, Louis glared at Teddy, sharp eyes telling him to _stay away._ Teddy just brushed it off as Louis being angry and figured that he’d calm down eventually.

When they landed, Vincent was filled with dread. Coming back home was like coming to face the reality that he wasn’t going to be able to play football in a while, maybe ever if something went wrong, and that freaked him out. He was freaked out by the idea that he was going to have to figure out how to get enough money to pay for college on his own, and he was freaking out about his leg and he was freaking out about what his mom was going to do when she saw him. Louis noticed that he was tense as he helped him get into the car.

“Are you worried?” He asked.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t.” Louis replied. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, I don’t really, but you don’t know that it’s gonna go bad either, now do you?” Louis said. “You need to relax. It’ll help you recover quicker.

“I know, but it’s hard not to worry about it all.”

“Seriously Vinny you need to learn how to relax.” Louis said. “Now shut up and let me get you  lunch before we go home.”


	3. Chapter 3

 “Seriously Vinny you need to learn how to relax.” Louis said. “Now shut up and let me get you lunch before we go home.”

Vincent tried to relax in the seat of Louis’s expensive convertible, but even the comfortable Italian leather couldn’t draw his mind away from that itching fear that was gnawing at him. He knew that the doctors had all told him that it was unlikely that his injury would stop him going on to college, but he just couldn’t help doubting it. He needed to come up with a back-up plan at least, just in case the worst case scenario hit.

He’d have to work, of course. With just a high school diploma, it wasn’t likely that he’d be able to get much more than minimum wage, but he guessed it would have to do. Maybe he’d apply for government assistance too, once he graduated. The idea of living on welfare wasn’t the most appealing for him, but it was something he’d have to do to get by, especially if his mom decided to kick him out once he left school.

“Vinny?”

“Huh?” Louis’s voice broke his train of thought.

“I asked you what you wanted for lunch.”

“Oh, I don’t really care. Just nowhere too expensive.” Vincent replied. Louis rolled his eyes.

“We’re already paying your hospital bills, doctors, physio and everything.” He deadpanned. “I don’t think it really matters if I wanna spend a couple hundred bucks getting you some food.”

“Louis, a couple hundred bucks is way too much for us just going out for lunch.”

“No it isn’t. You just haven’t eaten good enough food yet. There’s a lovely little French restaurant not too far by. Their truffle soup is to _die_ for.”

“Honestly I’d be perfectly fine just getting McDonalds.” Vincent replied, which earned him a glare from Louis, or as much of a glare as he could give him while driving.

“We’re not going to McDonald’s, Vince.” Louis said. “I have standards, you know.”

They ended up getting lunch at a small family-owned diner nearby, which was both cheap enough for Vincent not to feel too guilty, but expensive enough for Louis to feel like it was a place he wouldn’t be ashamed to be seen in.

“Thanks, by the way.” Vincent told Louis as he helped him out of the car.

“Well it’s not like you can just get up and walk out yourself, is it?” He asked. Louis carefully transferred Vincent from his seat in the car to his wheelchair, which was surprisingly difficult. He hadn’t really expected all that muscle to weigh so much.

“No, not that. I meant about paying for everything. You didn’t have to.” Vincent said. “I mean, the hospital bills, I can understand, you were there at the time and it was easier. But you really didn’t need to go ahead and pay for all the follow up treatment and rehab and stuff. I could have figured that out myself.”

“Of course I did.” Louis took hold of the wheelchair handles and steering Vincent towards the entrance of the store. He stopped and bent down until his lips were level with Vincent’s ear. “If I didn’t, you would have probably got some shitty discount doctor who doesn’t have any clue what the hell he’s doing. Or worse yet, just ignored it altogether.” Vincent kept quiet, knowing that both of those sounded like something he would end up doing. He let Louis wheel him into the restaurant, and after a quick exchange with the kind waitress, they were taken to a table in the faraway corner of the establishment, set aside especially for those in wheelchairs. The waitress handed them two menus and left, allowing them to carry on their conversation in peace.

“But really, did you have to hire all those specialists? I mean, it’s just a broken leg.” Vincent asked. He fiddled with the menu while he talked, sliding the laminated pages between his fingers.

“Well, we’d wanna make sure our star quarterback gets the treatment he needs.” He shot Vincent a smile. “How else am I gonna be your trophy wife?”

Vincent laughed again, and Louis couldn’t help but glance over his menu to watch. He just looked so damn _cute_ when he laughed. His eyes crinkled and his cheeks flushed. Sometimes he’d press his lips together and hold a fist in front of his mouth if he was really trying to keep it in, and that for some reason made Louis’s heart beat just a _tiny_ amount faster.

They ended up sharing a plate of nachos for lunch. Vincent carefully picked off the jalapeños and Louis took extra care to make eye contact with him as he licked sour cream off his lips. He smiled when that made Vincent blush even more. Somewhere in the back of his mind, thoughts about the time when he’d snuck after Vincent to spy on him and figure out what the hell was going on between him and Teddy rose up. They’d shared food too, and in a restaurant that was a hell of a lot more romantic than this one. Sure, he’d called it a “guys’ night out”, but Vincent was too dense to pick up when someone was flirting with him unless you made an outright statement that you wanted to do him. Was it really just a “guys’ night out” for Teddy too, or something else?

 _‘Stop, you’re overthinking it’._ Louis told himself. ‘ _Teddy’s straight, right? So why would he do that, then? Hell, the only reason he spends so much time and money on Vincent is because nobody else wanted to be his friend for so long. He’s just a little clingy, that’s all.’_ He still wasn’t convinced. But then again, there was the fact that Vincent was here with him instead of letting Teddy take him home.

Yes. That was it. Vincent was here, with him. And Vincent hadn’t said anything about it, he’d enjoyed himself a little actually. He didn’t need _Teddy_ to look after him, Louis could do just the same. No, he’d do even better. He could do so much more than Teddy to make him feel better. Was Teddy going to calm him down with kisses when Vincent freaked out about school or his injury? Was Teddy going to help him get dressed without getting all weird about seeing him naked? Was Teddy going to _make Vincent happy_ the way Louis did?

 _‘But would he even let you?’_ Why wouldn’t he? Sure, in the past their relationship had been purely physical, but there was no reason why that couldn’t change. He could make Vincent his before Teddy even noticed what was going on. To be fair, he wasn’t even sure that Teddy was a competitor, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. There was something about the guys that didn’t seem quite right. He was craftier than he let on.

He’d take Vincent from right under his nose while he was too busy playing whatever dumb “no homo” game was going on between them. It would be a piece of cake. And besides, he had his trump card too. Sex. That was a whole area that Teddy hadn’t even tested the waters of, and if he played his cards right, would work in his advantage bigtime.

He took the bill and paid it before Vincent even got a chance to see how much it cost, ignoring his pleas to tell him how much he was spending on him. Louis shrugged it off, telling him not to worry about it as he helped Vincent back into the car.  

“So,” He began once they were halfway to Vincent’s apartment. “Is your mom at home?”

“No, why?” Vincent asked before he looked up and saw Louis’s smirk. “ _Really,_ Louis?”

“What?” Louis feigned innocence. “I just thought that you might, you know, wanna relieve some pent up stress.”

“I don’t really think you’ll make a very good impression on my mom if she comes home early and finds you sucking me off.”

“Puh-lease.” Louis replied. “I know better than to get caught.”

~ ~ ~

Vincent’s apartment block was built of dirty bricks and broken windows. Louis knew that he didn’t come from money, but expected something better than what stood in front of him. It looked like the kind of place Louis would find a dealer behind to score himself some average quality dope. Inside, it looked better thankfully. At least it was clean, even though the elevator was so small that he could barely fit the wheelchair into it.

“Where’s your bedroom?” He asked on Vincent’s doorstep.

“To the left.” Vincent replied, and Louis quickly wheeled him down the hallway. “Wait, lock the door first!” He called out, forcing Louis to stop and hurry back.

“What’s the rush?” Has asked, once Louis returned.

“Rush? There’s no rush. Unless you _do_ want your mom to come home to me sucking your dick.” Louis teased.

“Yeah, because it’s not like she’s already pissed off enough because of me.” He replied. They got to Vincent’s bedroom and Louis had a look around. Like the rest of the apartment, it was pretty small, but thankfully big enough for the wheelchair to fit in comfortably. His bed was messily made and there were clothes strewn over it. Textbooks were piled on his desk and in a corner sat an acoustic guitar. (He tried not to think about the fact that he’d yet to hear him play despite the fact that he’d apparently played and sang for Teddy countless times.) He steered Vincent towards the middle of the room.

“Are you sure you’ll have enough space down there?” Vincent asked. “What with the cast and all?”

“I’ll be fine.” Louis replied. He went to close the door.

“No, leave it open.”

“But I thought you said that your mom – “

“We’ll be able to hear her coming with the door open.” Vincent replied. Louis simply nodded. Enough talk, time to get to work. Getting Vincent’s pants off was not going to happen, so instead he simply untied the laces at the waist of his sweatpants and slid his hand inside. He started off by feeling him through his boxers, just enough to get him hard before he slid his hand under those too. Vincent let out a small gasp and skin came into contact with skin, and now Louis slowed down, eyes flicking down to Vincent’s face. He stroked up and down gently, watching on the way Vincent tilted his head back and closed his eyes. Louis let go and without a word kneeled down beside Vincent’s wheelchair. He had to spend a few seconds moving around until he finally found a spot where he could rest his head on Vincent’s lap without causing himself any kind of back or neck strain. He ran his hands along Vincent’s thighs, pressing his thumbs into the insides until he heard Vincent’s breath quicken. Louis leaned forwards, trailing kisses along Vincent’s hips.

“Louis.” Vincent ran a hand through soft, blonde hair as Louis ran his tongue across his skin in lazy strokes, inching closer to his penis. He continued to press kisses to Vincent’s skin, nuzzling against tiny curls of brown hair. When he at last pressed his lips to the base of Vincent’s penis, he felt a hand grip his hair, tugging at the roots.  Louis smirked and continued to kiss, running his lips along Vincent’s dick until he reached the tip, where he opened his lips just enough to press his tongue to it. Vincent hitched his breath and bucked his hips forwards. Louis responded with a few more teasing kisses before he opened his mouth wider, sucking and kissing while he watched Vincent throw his head back even further and moan louder. He’d done it so many times that it had become a calculated practice for him, from how much he could take into his mouth to the angle at which he was supposed to bob his head at. He ran his tongue down the underside of Vincent’s dick, hands now slipping under Vincent’s shirt.

“Oh God, Louis.” Vincent gasped, his grip on Louis’s hair tightening. Louis ran his hands over firm muscle while he swallowed as much as he could take without choking. He moaned, closing his eyes and continuing to suck.

“Fuck, Louis, I’m gonna come.” Louis moaned again, running his tongue back and forth until he heard one more “Fuck” and the strong taste of salt hit the back of his mouth. He swallowed and pulled away, smiling as he watched Vincent pull himself back together. As an afterthought, he leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, smiling. He was worrying too much. There was no way Teddy could compete with this.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long to write school is back and I have so many readings and I am dying please someone send help


	4. Chapter 4

Louis spent the afternoon helping Vincent settle back into his apartment. He carried his luggage up from his car for him, glad that Vincent was such a light packer, and then helped him to unpack. While he put away every item of clothing he critiqued it for either being unfashionable or poorly made.

 

“You know, I should buy you some clothes that actually look  _ good _ .” Louis said as he folded up a pair of khaki shorts.

 

“I’m fine with the clothes I have, Louis.” Vincent rolled his eyes.

 

“Well I’m not. I mean when was the last time you actually wore something in season?” 

 

“Well I do wear winter jackets when it gets cold.” Vincent replied, eliciting an exasperated look from Louis.

 

“That’s not what I meant.” Louis said, about to go off on a rant when he heard the front door open. He watched Vincent stiffen as he strained to hear the sound of heels clacking on laminate flooring.

 

“Shit. My mom's home.” Vincent whispered.

 

“Will she be mad that I'm over?” Louis asked. Vincent shrugged.

 

“She’s mad anyways.” He replied. And sure enough, a few seconds later they heard her call out as she made her way down the hall.

 

“VINCENT!” She yelled, “What the hell is all this about you going off and breaking your leg on that dumb vacation with your rich- oh.” She saw Louis in Vince’s bedroom and quieted. 

 

“Do I know you?”

 

“Oh no, Mrs. Fawkes.” Louis said, with a politeness Vince had never seen before and could instantly tell was reserved for distant relatives and his dad’s business partners. “My name is Louis, one of Vince’s -  _ ahem” _

 

“Friends.” Vince interjected, glaring up at Louis.

 

“Friends. I just brought him home from the airport earlier today and was just helping him get settled.” 

 

“Well, thank you for your help, Louis. And by the way, it isn't ‘Mrs. Fawkes’, it's ‘Ms. Smith.’”

 

“Oh, uh sorry.”

 

“No problem.” She gave a forced smile which indicated that it was indeed a problem. “You can leave now if you want. I can take care of things from here.”

“I don’t mind staying, Ms. Smith. I don't have anything else to do today anyways.”

 

“No no. You've had a long flight. And you drove here from the airport too. You must be tired. Go home and rest. I can look after him now.” The forced smile grew bigger and her voice must have jumped half an octave in her attempt to stay polite. Louis could tell when he had worn out his welcome and headed for the door. 

 

“Text me, okay?” He looked to Vincent and then to his mother, wondering if it really was the best decision to leave him alone in her care.

 

~~

When he got back to his car, he just sat in it for a few minutes before he drove off. There was a risk right here that he was going in too deep. That he was devoting all this time and attention to a guy who was too in love with someone else for it to ever be possible. Sure, Vince had told him that he wasn't crushing on Teddy as hard as he used to, but how much of that was true and how much of that was him trying to keep Louis happy?

 

He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about that or what would happen if Teddy got his little hands on Vince. If that happened, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. He'd put a lot of goals into Vince. More than any other guy he'd ever been with, and maybe he was a little scared about losing that part of him forever. 

 

Okay, maybe more than a little.

~~

Back in Vincent's apartment, with Louis gone, his mother had full reign to yell as much as she wanted.

 

“I get a call from a hospital in Canada telling me that you broke your leg and now you come home in a fucking wheelchair! Vin, this is ridiculous.” She was fuming, as expected.

“Mom, it was an accident, okay?”

 

“Accident or not, that doesn't change the fact that you broke your leg and now you're in a wheelchair. What about all your medical bills? How are we going to pay all those?”

 

“My friends wanted to cover the cost.” Vincent replied quietly. “They said they don't think it's fair for me to pay.”

 

“Why, because they think we're some kind of charity case?” His mother asked. “That they have to because we can't afford it ourselves?”

 

“Well, we can't.” Vince replied. “But would you rather pay for everything by yourself then?” His mother frowned.

 

“That's not the point, Vin. It's the  _ principle _ . But anyways if they're offering and since we really can't afford to do otherwise, then I guess we'll just have to accept.”

 

“Great, now that that's done-” Vince moved to shoo her out of his room but she stayed put.

 

“Okay, so we don't have to worry about your medical bills, which is a good start, but what about all your wages you'll be losing when you can't work?” She asked. “And what is this I hear about you not getting your scholarship now?”

 

“That's not for sure Mom. They don't know how bad the damage is yet, but they said that it's unlikely that it'll be bad enough for me to lose my scholarship.”

 

“Well if you do then you'd better figure out some other way of getting money because you know that I can't afford to pay for you and your damn degree,”

 

“Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out, okay?” Vince urged her to leave.

 

“And without your wages we're going to be short on money for months.” She sighed.

 

“I know.” Vince said. “I'm sorry.”

 

“We might be able to get by but I'm going to have to make a lot of sacrifices until you start earning again.”

 

“I know. I'm sorry.” Vincent repeated.

 

“Sorry isn't going to do much good now, is it?” His mother shook her head as she left him in his room alone. He sighed and wheeled himself over to his window. Louis had already left. Maybe he'd text him later tonight. He  _ had _ already promised to send him pictures that would ‘put a smile on his face’ as Louis had put it.

 

Teddy stopped by a few hours later, which improved his mom's mood a little. She'd always liked him more than any of his other friends. He and Teddy sat in his room. The awkwardness that Vincent hoped would have dissipated after the hospital still remained. Teddy tried to avoid making eye contact by looking at anything else in the room. The desk, the window, the bed. No, not the bed.  _ Had they done it there?  _ On the bed that he used when they had sleepovers or snuggled in together to watch a movie. Teddy told himself that he was beings stupid. It wasn't any of his business what Vince did in his bed. And besides, that didn't change anything about them, did it? Did it?

 

“So, uh. How's your leg feeling?” Teddy tried to make conversation. 

 

“Better.” Vince replied. “Not great, but it doesn't hurt anywhere near as much.” He noticed the way Teddy didn't look at him in the eye.  _ He has to know by now. If someone hadn't told him he's probably worked it out for himself.  _

 

“Look, Teddy. If you still feel weird after what happened yesterday then I - “

 

“No, no, that's not it.” Teddy replied quickly. “I don’t know, I just feel really weird right now.”

“Weird how?

 

“I don't know, maybe it's something to do with jet lag. Look, I'll come and see you again tomorrow, I promise.” And with that Teddy had left quicker than any time Vince had ever seen before. Damn it. Just his luck that in the middle of all the shit he was dealing with from his injury, he had to deal with his best friend apparently not wanting anything to do with him anymore. He sighed and wheeled himself over to his guitar. He needed another vacation.

Teddy stopped outside Vincent's apartment block and looked back at his window.  _ Nothing’s changed _ he told himself.  _ He's still the same Vincent and I'm still the same Teddy. It's just like how it was before. _ Except it wasn't, because now Louis was there too, and whatever it was that was going on between them. Whey they were dating or just having sex or whatever, it just felt like the more time Vincent spent with Louis, the weirder things would get between them. It wasn't like he had this problem when Vince was going up with Kamri, it was just something about Louis in particular that just bothered him. He didn't know how to explain the burning feeling he got in his chest when he'd seen them kiss in the hospital, but he just couldn’t get it out of his head. 

 

It was obvious that Louis wasn’t right for Vincent. They were just so  _ different _ , and taking into consideration Louis’s reputation, he really didn’t think that Louis’s intentions for Vincent were one hundred percent honest. He could easily see Louis using this as a chance to manipulate Vincent, Louis had the prime conditions to get Vincent to do whatever he wanted him to, since he was so inexperienced with gay sex and stuff. It was just him being concerned with how healthy his relationship was, Louis just wasn’t right for him, and he had to find a way to tell Vincent this without sounding like an asshole. It was what was best for Vincent, he told himself. He only wanted this because it would help him, that was all.

 

Vincent had just gotten out of a very awkward shower his mom had helped him take and was back in bed before he picked up his phone. He’d got a few messages from Kamri, Charli, Andre and Louis, just checking that he was okay. No texts from Teddy yet. 

 

**You need me to bring you anything tonight?** Louis had sent him another text. 

 

**No, I’m fine.** Vincent typed back.  **I don’t think my mom would be too happy with you coming over this late anyways. She’s already in a bad mood since she had to give me a shower.**

 

**I really should have stayed over then. I’d have been happy to help you out ;)**

 

**Yeah, that would be great** **_._ ** Vincent replied.

 

**Is something wrong?**

 

**No, why would it be?**

 

**I dunno, you'd usually be a lot more excited by that. Did anything happen?**

 

**No, Teddy just stopped by and was acting pretty weird.** That made Louis sit up straight.

 

**Weird how?**

 

**He was being really awkward. I think he knows.**

 

**??**

 

**How I feel about him.** Louis stared at the screen for a few moments. Of course Teddy would have figured it out eventually, the guy wasn't stupid. Now it was a question of what it was Teddy was playing at here. Whatever Teddy was planning, Louis knew he couldn't let him get the upper hand. He went out to his balcony to light a cigarette before replying 

 

**You're worrying too much. He probably just feels bad about what happened.**

 

**Yeah you're right. Do you think I should text him?**

 

**No. Give him some space and he'll come around eventually. He's still getting used to the fact that you're gay too.**

 

**OK thanks for your help!**

 

**Np, I'll come by and visit tomorrow ok?**

 

**Yeah that would be great!! Goodnight <3**

 

**Goodnight xxx**

 

Vincent smiled and ran his thumb over the three little kisses Louis had sent him. Things really had changed since the time he'd tried to drown him in a swimming pool. He'd learnt that Louis really wasn't a bad guy deep down, and he could actually be pretty sweet when he wanted to. Vincent was thinking of Louis when his phone buzzed again. He picked it up and looked down to see that Teddy had texted him. He read the message quickly.

 

**Hey, sorry about today. I'm just getting used to the whole idea and everything.**

 

**It's fine Teddy, it was a lot to take anyways.**

 

**So does this mean that you and Louis are a thing then?**

 

**I don't know. I kinda want to be but I'm afraid he doesn't want that.** Teddy didn't know why the idea of Louis rejecting Vincent made him smile but for some reason it did.

 

**Well if he doesn't maybe it's better to stay away**

 

**What?**

 

**I just don't think Louis is the right guy for you.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took forever but please enjoy and come to me at my Tumblr @long-days-pleasant-nights to talk more vinlou and bff!


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